It was not a bad car, my grandparents owned one and were happy with it. The problem was marketing. Ford perceived that their was an open market segment between their mid-priced Mercury and luxury Lincoln lines, sort of like Buick in the GM line. Ford also wanted a dealer network of similar size to GM and Chrysler.
The niche never really existed as the Mercury and Lincoln lines covered that price range. Ford didn’t eliminate high-line Mercurys or lower-line Lincolns, fearing harming their existing dealer network. Most Ford dealers sold Edsels as a companion line to either Mercury or Lincoln. Buyers preferred to purchase cars with a known name and reputation. Also styling was somewhat unfortunate, the “horse collar” grille was ridiculed by some.
Sales figure never reached corporate expectations. The brand was dropped in the 1960 model year. Production figures were about 68,000 for the 1958 model year, 45,000 for 1959 and only 2800 for 1960. Ford cancelled production shortly after introducing the 1960 models.
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